Nothing New under the Sun

I know a lot of people are so focused on Christmas, getting and buying presents etc, that one little celestial event may have past them up without even a notice. The Winter's Solstice. The time when the Earth is angled the furthest away from the Sun. It also marks the end of the short days for those in the Northern Hemisphere.

But for those of us who live in this darkness, we sing halleluiah!!! And why not celebrate! Throw a party in anticipation of the birth of light coming into our world. Now is the beginning of longer days to get more work done. Yes, with the returning of the Sun, we enter officially into winter. But surely we can manage the cold as long as the Sun shines. =)

Makes me wonder if the early Christians were thinking the birth of the Light of the World coincided well with the coming Winter Soltice, thus the Christ's Mass. It seems there is truly nothing new under the Sun.

Day of firsts

It is approaching two years that we have been in France, and nearly a year in our present place. But from time to time it seems there will always be new things to experience for the first time.

This happened to me a couple of weeks ago. We decided to go to the largest town (an actual city) in our department. I had done this trip one time before so that was not new, but almost as soon as I got into the city, NEW things started popping up.

I noticed that the traffic in front of us was not moving too quickly. This is pretty normal in rush hour traffic, which I was trying to avoid. I noticed that a lot of people were milling about so I thought there had been a small fender bender. So, I didn't take too much thought over the fact that all the cars were turning around. Then, as soon as I approached the crowd, I knew it. A dang French demonstration (manifestation en francais). About 50 to 60 high school students were blocking the road daring anyone to hit them or cross their mob. Many had scarves around their faces, I guess to hide their identity, who knows. And for those drivers who thought they could bully themselves through the crowd with their car soon learned that the crowd is bigger than the car (or least in France). So, we too turned around, but I was mad. But I got a smile on my face when I saw the riot squad gearing up to take care of the small juvenile delinquent band.

Next, it was time to visit the Christmas market. Not much of a Christmas market, but it was the very first time that I heard a "Christmas" song being played this year. It was not even a whole song. It was Jingle Bells as part of the background noise for a commercial. Could this be? Christmas less than two weeks away and this was the first partial Christmas song that I had heard!? Amazing! And kind of nice actually. Later on I did hear a Christmas song that was "religious." I was shocked.

After the market it was too early to eat, so we decided to walk around some. And for the first time this year, I saw "Christ" in "Christmas" (yes I know this probably was not when Christ was born, and it probably has pagan roots, fine. But it is still why Christians celebrate Christmas and it wouldn't matter what day of the year it was celebrated on). We passed two shops/stores that were selling crèches (Nativity scenes with santons, that is figurines of the local people at the manger scene--It's all French). They were a bit too expensive, but we'll still looking.

By this time it was lunch. So, we walked back to the town center. Someone had told us about Jack's burger and how it was the closest thing to an American hamburger in France. It was packed out with people, but we got our first Jack's Burger without too much of a wait. Not too bad. Maybe one step up from McDonald's (or MacDogh- as they call it here). Lady R said it was like Burger King, but I thought it was just slightly better. A great first with the appeal of making me want to return someday.

We did some shopping separately, then we met back up and went to Domino's Pizza for our supper. Granted this is not the healthiest day we've had. They were not open, but we thought it worth the wait until they did. Even though I forgot to get thin crust, our pizzas were great. We even tried a French style type pizza. No NO NO, we didn't get the raw egg or oyster in their shells, we got a tomato-less based pizza. It was more like what you would find on a crêpe than a pizza. It wasn't bad, but I think next time we won't venture off into uncharted waters.

Besides, we bought some anteope (which was sitting beside the kangaroo) to eat for Christmas. I hope our company won't mind!! First things are scary, but after you do them once, you can say you did them (even if you won't ever do them again).

And the winner is...

Miss La Reunion.

Last night, we go to watch the 2008 Miss France contest. Lady R picked the winner. The girl I picked, Miss Rhone-Alpes, made to the top 12, but didn't qualify for the top 5. I then switched to Miss Nouvelle Caledonie, who was the runner up. However, I was glad that Miss La Reunion won. It has been about 28 years since someone from that tropical island has won the title of Miss France.

Yet another blog

As promised...I have finished reading Brian McLaren's The Secret Message of God. You will find what I have to say about it here. I ask that you do not link from there to here, please. The first line at the bottom is for your name. The big box is where you get to tell me off.

I am sure my commentary is not going to win me many friends, especially if you're a McLaren fan.

What is a generational gap?

It seems that as time goes on, the gap in between generations decreases. I can remember thinking a generation was defined by about 25 years. But with the advent of the Baby Boom generation and each successive generation, I sense that the gaps in between each are getting smaller. The Baby Boomer generation has been defined by some as beginning at the end of World War II and ending with the wide spread use of the birth control pill. Thus, in the West(erniss) world that would be those born from about 1946-1964. That figure is based mostly on the rise and beginning decline of the birth rate of that period. I wonder, as others (see Wiki article above), if that time period is too large to mark a "generation."

I have no intentions of trying to establish exact demarcations for what a generation is. I am simply stating an observation and its possible implications.

If asked, I would probably put myself in the Gen. X category. But I would add that a lot of adjustment would have to be made for it to be MY label. I am blessed to have not had to endure a lot of the negative affects that have defined Gen X. However, many of my peers have, and by interacting with them, I am aware of the good and bad side of being a Gen Xer. As a non-social science expert, I would say that those influenced by the pop culture of the 1980's would be stereotypical in the Generation X category. So far me, anyone born between 1974 and 1977 would just barely make it in the Gen. X.

Given that definition, I barely "fit in," and those born after 1974 (or 1977ish) are in a different generation. What they want to call themselves is left up to them. But they view the world in a different manner than "my generation." The first time I noticed this difference was my first year of teaching. When I started, I was only about 6 years older than my oldest students. I saw they were not my contemporary (see this article on teaching to a different generation). My life experience and their life experience were totally different. At first, I attributed the differences to either power distance or socio-economic issues. But each year, I realized it was a true generation gap. It was confirmed for me (remember I am no expert in social sciences) when I started working with these youngsters.

Who would have thought that a mere 6 years difference would be a generation gap? It makes me feel old. On the other hand, it makes me happy to know that those from the former generations still want to hang out with the kiddos, even though they have probably felt a gap between us for a long time. I am just now being able to appreciate their patience and just what they've had to put up with. And to those from the next generations (and beyond) thanks for hanging out with the old people. I don't always understand you, but I have enjoyed the benefits of those who stuck it out with me, so I am willing to do the same for you. I am sure we will learn a ton from each other.